She remembers when they first saw each other. Back when they were running to catch up to the fight between Sasuke and his brother Itachi. He was certainly weird compared to the other members, was her first thought about him. He acted like a child, but she could still feel the power he possessed under the facade. It felt like poison, and for a minute she thought it was, as she held her breath for a good minute. No one else seemed to notice. Perhaps only she did because she could feel his one eye bearing down on her; as if he was seeing into her very soul and reading everything she ever tried to keep hidden. She hoped that first experience in his presence was the last.

~.~*~.~

As fate loves to fool with her as its toy, her next encounter with that odd Akatsuki member was on a solo mission. Fates toy indeed; alone, barely any chakra left from the lord she was sent to heal, and the fight with the ten-something rogue ninjas who thought it a good idea to call her 'Pinkie'. No one calls her pinkie.

Standing just a few feet from her, on a high branch in the trees, he stared at her through the hole in his mask. She had stopped to take a break, leaning against a tree on the ground, when five minutes in he appeared. And stared. And stared. Sakura felt her brow twitch in annoyance.

"What business does an Akatsuki have here?" Seeing as he was far from the normal areas they have gathered of Akatsuki sightings, this seemed a pretty good question for her to start with.

The orange masked nin just tilted his head as if he thought her to speak another language. Sakura just glared.

Before she had time to blink he was standing only two inches from her. Her eyes widened as she fell back against the tree in surprise. Fast, really fast, was her thought. His hand came up to grasp a strand of her pink hair, lightly stroking it, as if examining if the color was real. Before she could even properly react, he was gone. She blinked a couple of times in stupor, making sure he was truly gone, before continuing home with haste.

~.~*~.~

Sakura was taking a short vacation on order of the Hokage in a near by town, only a few miles from Konoha's outside walls. She sat in a small tea shop eating and catching up on some medical scrolls, even after her shishou told her not to bring anything that had to do with her work. She caught a glimpse of orange out of the corner of her eye.

Naruto?,she thought as she turned her head for a better look, her eyebrows formed into a frown. With nothing but the normal civilian passersby, she shrugged her shoulders and went back to her scrolls.

The same thing occurred repeatedly a few more times during the day, but each time she shrugged it off as her mind playing tricks on her; something that came with all the late nights worrying about her blond teammate.

~.~*~.~

It was her last night at the quaint hotel Sakura was staying at. She stood in front of her bed, hands on her hips as she gave a circumvent glance around the room. Her bag was packed, clothes placed out for the morning, everything was in place.

Leaving the hotel and town was easy enough, the people were too busy with their daily schedules to worry about someone they barely knew. After grabbing herself a quick breakfast, Sakura headed back to Konoha.

Sakura was half way to the gates when she felt like she was being watched. She pushed off the tree branch and landed on the ground facing the direction she came from with tense shoulders. Not a minute after waiting, he stepped out from the shadows of the trees; the sun peeking through the tree tops to land on the red cloud. Sakura clenched her jaw as a million thoughts ran through her head; fight and flight.

"Hello kunoichi." came a silky, deep voice, not at all like the one she heard from him the first time. She narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

"Who are you and what do you want?" she hissed back in reply. He chuckled. "Just to talk. No harm, promise." he said, arms spread wide almost invitingly.

"And why the hell should I ever believe you!" she growled. Sakura reached into her medic pouch before putting on her black gloves. Legs apart and fists ready for a fight. Just long enough for a distraction, then I can make my escape,she thought as she eyed his torso. Your chest always moves in the direction you go, even if unconsciously.

For a moment she thought Sasuke was behind that mask, she could almost feel an arrogant smirk on the mans face. He chuckled again and took a few casual steps forward. Sakura stood her ground glaring.

"I meant what I said princess. No harm, just talk." he drawled out. "Then talk." she said.

He stood straight and tall, arms limp at his sides and feet shoulder length apart; the picture of calm. She almost hated him for it. "I have a small...proposition for you, princess." he stated. "What the hell could you ever offer me that I would want? And don't call me that!" Sakura spat out, anger almost visible around her. He chuckled again and moved to make himself comfortable against a tree. Sakura shifted her feet, still on the defense. She knew his speed, and if he so much as flinched in her direction she wouldn't hesitate to run flat out the rest of the way to Konoha.

"I will cease my pursuit for your little jinjuriki friend. On top of that I will freely give you any and all information on your precious Uchiha brat." Sakura's eyes widened at his tone. He sounded serious, with no mock found in his body language. Her eyes narrowed again as she asked, "And what do you want in return?"

He tilted his head at her, almost seeming to size her up before answering, "Just your company. Princess." Yeah, definitely smirking right now,she thought; lips pursing, as she rolled his alterier motives around in her head. "Why the hell would you want my company? What are you up to?" She knew he wouldn't give that one a straight answer, right Sakura, like the enemy is going to tell you his plans, are you stupid?, she internally scoffed at herself.

"Just I have previously stated. Your company." He moved to straighten himself off the tree, mock saluting her, before he disappeared from sight. Sakura tensed, waiting for an attack before deciding he had truly left.

In mild shock and a hell load of confusion, she turned back to her previous direction and started jumping through the trees again. It wasn't until she was already in her own bed, having finished checking in with Tsunade; careful to lot let her distress over the situation show, that she realized he never told her when or where they were going to meet. Sakura groaned and pulled the covers over her head before forcing herself into a much needed dreamless sleep.

~.~*~.~

It wasn't until three weeks later, when she had almost pushed the whole incident our of her mind, that he decided to show himself again. And true to his word he only talked. He gave her any information she asked her, provided it had to do with Sasuke or Naruto. When Sakura would ask about Akatsuki's new plans, he would skirt around the subject until she almost forgot she even asked. Almost being the key word. He would sometimes bring her a gift; such as a new kunai set when she happen to mention she needed one, a necklace she spotted in a distant civilian village when she didn't have the money at the time; how he knew this, she was almost afraid of the answer.

Sakura started packing bentos for the both of them when they were to meet up. It started with her running late from a hospital shift and forgetting to eat, to making up an excuse to keep her mouth and hands busy. She found herself, slowly over time, wanting to touch him or say some things she might regret. He acted like a perfect gentleman around her; bowing when she showed up to there meetings, or giving a light kiss on her hand when they parted. He was always careful not to show his face; only pushing it up enough to show his lips. And it made her more curious as to his identity.

Over time, instead of the interrogations Sakura would give him, they started to talk about more mundane things; such as the weather, or how they slept the night before. Petty things. Sakura found herself more confused then ever. She found herself questioning everything; why her? Why at all? It wasn't until a few months into their weekly meet-ups that she felt something different. The air around them had changed; from tense suspicion to an almost friendly, if not intimate manner. And all at once Sakura found herself flooded with emotions; more confusion then anything else.

...And thus the puzzle starts to put itself together...


O.M.G, I am sooo sorry for the tremendous wait I had you guys going through. I had such a hard time with this...really...at first I was certain with what I wanted to do, but half way through I was like, "wait..this doesn't make sense!" Soo I had to delete it and start over, and then I forgot what the hell I was trying to write and then...well I kinda got annoyed with myself and left it alone for a little while...yeh. Again I am soo terribly sorry for the wait, hopefully the next chapter, which is also the last, will be a lot quicker.

Til then, ja ne!

~Kyori out~